Karl Wallinger talks music and growing up ahead of Lark Fest

Karl Wallinger brings stripped-down version of World Party to Lark Fest

By Michael Eck

Published 1:36 pm, Wednesday, September 12, 2012

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Karl Wallinger (Shore Fire Media)

Karl Wallinger (Shore Fire Media)

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Local rock band The City Never Sleeps performs at a news conference to announce details of the 2012 Albany Tulip Festival at Albany City Hall Tuesday April 10, 2012. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Local rock band The City Never Sleeps performs at a news conference to announce details of the 2012 Albany Tulip Festival at Albany City Hall Tuesday April 10, 2012. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

Karl Wallinger talks music and growing up ahead of Lark Fest

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When Karl Wallinger takes the stage at Lark Fest on Saturday, he'll likely be thinking of London. Not because he's homesick.

In November, the singer-songwriter will make his first stage appearance in the city in over a dozen years, and not at some corner pub, mind you. Wallinger and his band, World Party, will be making the scene at Royal Albert Hall.

Even now, with the event weeks away, Wallinger says his main thought is "Yeeeeargghhh!," a sound, hard to convey in print, that seems equal parts elation, trepidation and anticipation.

For the 54-year-old Wallinger, the RAH gig will be especially special. A little over a decade ago, Wallinger didn't even know if he'd be alive to play the famous venue come fall 2012.

The multi-instrumentalist was relaxing at home in early 2001 when he told his wife he had a headache. A few hours later he was in the hospital undergoing emergency surgery on a brain aneurysm.

Effects linger, certainly. He has a lack of right field vision, for example, in both eyes.

But his sense of humor has remained intact.

When asked how he's feeling these days, Wallinger quips: "Pretty good. I'm a little bit heavy, but I always knew I'd be big in the music business."

The Albert Hall show will be a launch party for an ambitious 5-CD "Diary & Music Collection" called "Arkeology."

Wallinger says he still unsure what the set list for the big night will be.

"It's a bit of a freakout at the moment because I'm not sure where the string parts are for certain songs, and so on. On the technical side, it's quite nerve-wracking."

"The British shows are the ones where I'm thinking about doing more things from 'Arkeology,' but I can't honestly say for sure. I've also been wanting to do some covers that aren't on the record. I don't know how the set list will pan out. I think we'll be quite thorough, though."

The plan for Lark Fest is a little simpler, he chuckles.

"At the moment, it's more a matter of going around and saying hello, do you remember this one?"

The band for Lark Fest will also be a pared down affair, featuring Wallinger and touring mate/fiddler David Duffy joined by guitarist John Turnbull; the trio will then head to shows in New York City.

Wallinger first found fame with Mike Scott's Waterboys. The volatile personalities meshed musically, but not personally, with Wallinger leaving after the classic early releases "A Pagan Place" and "This Is The Sea."

He recorded World Party's 1986 debut, "Private Revolution," largely by himself. The album yielded the global hit "Ship of Fools," and it was soon followed by other eclectic, soulful albums like "Goodbye Jumbo" and "Bang!"

Around that time of "Fools," World Party played in Latham at the now defunct Starlite Music Theatre, with local legends Blotto opening the show. That night was one for the ages, with Wallinger and his cohorts delivering a powerhouse show that still lingers in the memory.

In 2006, on a first round of touring after his illness, Wallinger brought World Party to the River Street Festival in Troy.

"We played more in the U.S. in 2006 than we ever had before," he beams.

The band for the Albert Hall date will be a mite bigger than the Lark Fest crew. Wallinger plans at least a nine-piece outfit and he's currently looking into adding a choir — or two — to the proceedings.

But he says that age and his ailment have altered the way he views the making of his brand of music.

"When I was younger, I was quite difficult about using other sounds. The longer in the tooth I've got, I've realized I can do a good song on an acoustic guitar or with a nine-piece band. Sometimes when you strip it down, a song comes across better."